CDC director resigns over ‘complex financial interests’

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chief Brenda Fitzgerald resigns due to investment issues, the government said today.

“Dr. Fitzgerald owns certain complex financial interests that have imposed a broad recusal limiting her ability to complete all of her duties as the CDC Director. Due to the nature of these financial interests, Dr. Fitzgerald could not divest from them in a definitive time period,” the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.

Fitzgerald’s resignation follows a Politico report yesterday that said she had financial conflicts one month into her leadership as CDC director. Politico reported that Fitzgerald had bought shares in a tobacco company, despite being the head of an agency responsible for reducing tobacco use in the nation.